What to do in a rear-ending accident in which injury and police were involved and the driver was not the owner of the vehicle.

I rear-ended (my fault) a vehicle yesterday and the driver was taken to the hospital because he suffered a whiplash, and the police was involved. I am visiting California from Pennsylvania and I was driving my friend's car, which was insured with AAA with a family policy that has 3 names under it. I also have AAA insurance. I have been instructed to file under my friend's insurance. What liability and legal consequences do I (and/or my friend) have to be concerned about and what actions do I need to take to safeguard possible lawsuits? How will my friend's family be affected since their names are also on the policy? Will the insurance take care of everything or am I responsible for future payment for his injury?

I would suggest that you report the accident to your friend's insurance first as you will likely be covered under his policy. If for some reason you are not covered under your friend's policy, your policy should cover you for the accident. As long as there is sufficient coverage either from your friend's policy or yours, you have little to worry about as to having to personally pay for the other driver's injuries or damages.

Make sure you report the accident to your friend's insurance company. When the person you hit gets a lawyer, they will go after the policy on the car, and the insurance company will defend. This is why we have insurance.

The answer does not create an attorney/client relationship and is for informational purposes only.

While I cannot give you legal advice in this forum, I would suggest you and your friend both report the accident. Do not delay. Let the insurance company work out who will deal with the potential claimant and under which policy any payments will be made.

THIS RESPONSE IS INTENDED TO CONVEY GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. IT SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON OR TAKEN AS LEGAL ADVICE. FURTHER, THIS RESPONSE IS NOT INTENDED TO AND DOES NOT CREATE AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP.